Coin-freed vending apparatus



L. M. MILTON COIN-FREED VENDING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor J ttorney Feb. 3, 1959 Filed Oct. 1, 1957 III ary 1 Feb. 3, 1959 M. MILTON 2,872,010

COIN-FREED VENDING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 1, 1957 lnvenlor 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A its te This invention relates to coin-freed vending apparatus and has for its object to provide a new or improved apparatus intended primarily for the sale of various kinds: of perishablefoodstutfs suchas, for example, sandwiches, cakes and the like and tothis end according to this invention there is provided' a-coin-freed vending apparatus comprising a casing having atray or the like for supporting a plurality of articles'of the kind referred to, a delivery chute through which the articles may be delivered to the exterior of the casing, and means for removing said articles oneat atime from saidtray and passing them to the chute, said means comprising an elementinaccessible from the exterior of the casing for engaging one of the articles, anda member for operatingsaid element from outside the casing, saidelement and member being adapted to be operatively connected by a coin inserted into the apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a generalperspecti've view of a coin-freed vending apparatus inaccordance with this invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical section, taken fromfront-to-back, through the apparatus shown in Figure 1, being drawn on an enlarged scale,

Figure 3 is-asection on. the line=1'I-I-HI of Figure-2,

Figure 4- is aplan view taken in the direction of the arrow IV in Figure 2,

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view through the article extractor mechanism of the apparatus shown in Figures 1 to 4, prior to the operation thereof,

Figure 6 is aview similar to- Figure 5, but during the operation of the mechanism,

Figure 7 is a section on the line VII-VII of Figure 5, and

Figure 8 is a section on the line-VIII-VIII of Figure 6.

The apparatus shown in the accompanying drawing is intended primarily for selling wrapped sandwiches, and for convenient reference is made in the following de scription to sandwiches only, but it is to be understood that the apparatus could readily be adapted-for'the sale of other foodstuff" articles such as, for example, sliced slab cake, doughnuts, bread, rolls, and-the like.

With reference to Figures 1 to 4; the apparatus comprises a hat generally rectangular casing 1 furnished with a transparent cover 2 of glass, synthetic plastic material or the like, and a supporting tubular frame 3, the latter being formed so that the casing is inclined slightly forwardly and downwardly. A wide transverse slot 4 is provided in the bottom of the casing 1 near and parallel to the front thereof, and into this slot isfitted the upper end of a downwardly and forwardlycurved delivery chute 5 which terminates at its lower end in an upturned lip 6';

The major part I of the bottom of the casing 1, that is the part behind the slot 4, carries atray' 7 for contain ing sandwiches S to be sold (see Figure 2), the tray being divided by equally spacedjparallel partitions 9; extending from the front to the rear of the tray, into a' plurality of compartments, each for containing sand- 2,872,010 Patented Feb. 3, 1959 wiches with a particular filling. The part 1* of the bottom of the casing together with the tray 7 is rem0vable from the casing, a flap 10 being provided in the back wall of the casing to facilitate removal thereof, the flap and the part 1 having interengaging means (not shown) whereby they may be locked together. In practice, when it is desired to load the tray with sandwiches, it is removed from the casing. At its opposite side edges the part 1 carries projecting pins 11 which are adapted to slide into guide slots 12 on the insidesof the side walls of the casing (see Figure 3).

The tray is supported on and connected to the part 1 of the bottom of the casing by front and rear legs 13 and 14, the rear legs being slotted at 15- t'o-formsupports for the bearingrods of spring rollers 16 which are disposed beneaththe tray-along the rear edge thereof, one roller being provided for each compartment of the tray; On eachroller l d is' Wound the end of a belt 17 which passes forwardly to the front of the tray, up over a-bar 18 supported between forwardly projectingbrackets 19 at the opposite sides of the front edge of the tray; through a slot 20' in the front wall of the tray, and finally toa pusher member 2 1 to which it is attached: The roller spring always'tends to'wind the belt l7 around the roller 1'6 and thus always draws the pusher member 21 forwardly in its compartment in the tray. In use sandwiches are inserted in the compartment between the pusher member 21 and the front wall of the tray so 'that as each sandwich" is removed theremainder are pushed forward; This will be more fully explainedhereinafter;

The means for extracting sandwiches from the tray 7 will now be described in detail, but in general it comprises a fork on which the foremost sandwich 8 in-a compartment' can he impaled, lifted clear over the front wall of the tray and dropped into the chute 5". Sothat only one sandwich can be extracted at a time an adjustahlyin clined bar 22 is secured inside the, casing'betweenrthe side walls thereof near the front, of theitra-y, thearrangee ment being such that this bar will prevent the second sandwich in a compartment being lifted with the first clear over the front .wall of, the tray. Should thesec- 0nd sandwich be lifted at allit will strike the bar 22 which will knock it back into the tray.

In the front wall of the casing 1' there is formed an elongated horizontal slot 3i, having mounted therein" op? posed channel shaped members 32' which form" runners fora fork supporting carriage, indicated generally by the reference numeral The channel shaped members 32 are carried by a semi-cylindrical shield 59 near the ends thereof, and between the 'lat'terja'nd the top bottom of the slot I i there are. disposed roller or "ball bearing units 49 the arrangement being such that the shield fi with: the fork supportingcarriage 33', is rockable about longitudinal. centre line of the slot 33.

Stops on the ends of the shield 49 limit the rocking movement thereof. The carriage 33 comprises two spacedpillars 34' provided at their upper and lower ends with wheels 35 which engage and run in the channel mem bers 32. Pivotally mounted on and between the two. pillars 34' by ofpivot pins 34 (see Figure 7), is the actual fork' carrier 36; This carrier. is hollow,

being closed at its inner end by a block 37 in. which is.

slida'b'ly mounted a fork 38, the fork rod having on the end thereof an annular? shoulder 39 which forms an abutment or stop, for a washer 40 which is slidahleon the rod. Between the washer 4% and the block 37 there is disposed, around said rod, a compression spring il". This spring serves in the inoperative position of the extractor means to draw the forkrod into the carrier 35 until the prongs of the fork engage the block 37, the prongs being contained in this positionwithinatU-shaped guard 42 which extends rearwardly from and is secured back to its initial position.

to the opposite sides of the carrier 36. The inner end of this guard has an elongated aperture 43 through which the fork can be projected as is explained hereinafter.

, The outer end; of the fork carrier 36 is also closed by ablock 45 which has, however, a central bore 46 which at its outer end is of outwardly tapering conical shape. When the fork isin its inoperative position the shoulder 39 on the end of the rod thereof is spaced from the inner end of the block 45 sufficiently to allow a coin C to fall between them, the carrier 36 having thereon an upwardly extending coin chute 47 immediately beneath which there is provided a narrow ledge 48- on to which a coin dropped into the chute will fall and thereby be supported on its edge.

In the upper end of the shield 49, closely adjacent the front wall of the casing there is formed an elongated slot 50 (see Figure 1) and through this extends an arm 51 which is secured to the fork carrier 36 at its inner end and is bent forwardly and downwardly over the top half of the shield 49. At its extreme end the arm 51 has secured thereto a finger plate 52. By means of this finger plate the whole fork supporting carriage 33 can be caused to move transversely across the front of the casing.

In the shield 49 opposite each compartment of the tray 7 there is mounted an operating member 55, this member having a hollow shaft 56 with an operating knob 57 on the outer end thereof. The shaft 56 passes through an aperture in the shield 49 and through a hearing block 58 inside the shield, the inner end of the shaft being formed so that it cannot be withdrawn wholly through said block. The internal diameter of the shaft 56 is greater than the external diameter of the rod of the fork 38.

The operation of the apparatus, as described so far, is as follows. Let it be assumed that all the compartments have been loaded with sandwiches, one variety of filling in each compartment. Suitable indicator means (not shown) would he provided to indicate such fillings. A person wishing to purchase a sandwich moves the fork supporting carriage 33 by means of the finger plate 52 until it is in line with and between the compartment containing the required sandwich and the corresponding operating member. He then drops a coin C of a given value into the coin chute 47. This falls into the fork carrier and it will be seen that it takes up a position between the outer end of the fork rod and the inner end of the operating member shaft 56. The operating member 55 is now pushed in. It slides into and through the bore 46, the conicaltaper of which prevents jamming due to the fork supporting carriage not having been quite perfectly positioned, and then pushes the coin C against the end of the fork rod. On continuing to push the operating member the fork prongs are projected from the guard 42 and into the foremost sandwich. The operating member is then depressed to rock the shield 49 and the fork carriage 33, the fork prongs being as a result raised thus lifting the sandwich clear over the front wall of the tray 7. On releasing pressure on the operating member 55 the spring 41 which has been compressed during the inward movement of the fork re-asserts itself and draws the fork prongs back into the guard 42, the latter serving to dislodge the sandwich which drops down into the chute ready to be removed, being arrested by the lip 6. The operating member 55 will also he pushed An additional light spring may be provided to ensure that it is pushed fully back. The shield 49 and fork supporting carriage 33 will rock back to their initial position due to the weight of the latter.

Extending along the interior of the front wall of the casing 1 below the level of the slot 31 and the inner end of the fork carrier 36 is an elongated coin receiving box 60 with a tapering inlet 61 (see Figure 2). The bottom of the fork carrier is open and on one side of this opening there is pivotally suspended a catch element 62, this element being so arranged that it is in the path of the coin trapped between the ends of shaft 56 and the fork rod. On the inward movement of the coin it strikes the upper end of the catch element 62 which is free to pivot inwardly. The coin thus moves easily past the catch element. As the coin returns, it again strikes the catch element but this time the latter is prevented from pivoting outwardly by a stop 64 on the fork carrier 36 below the pivot of the catch element. The coin is therefore tilted and due to the pressure of the spring 41 is caused to be forceably ejected downwardly into the coin receiving box 60.

Operation of the apparatus without first inserting a coin is impossible because the dimensions of the fork rod and shaft 56 are, as explained above, such that these two merely telescope one within the other without any movement of the fork taking place.

In a modification individual forks may be provided for each of the compartments of the tray 7, in which case the carriers therefor would not, of course, need to be movable across the front of the casing. In another modification a single fork and operating member may be provided in conjunction with a rotatable compartmented tray, the latter being, in operation, rotated to bring a selected compartment opposite the fork.

In a still further. modification the coin chute or chutes as described above are omitted and a single coin selector mechanism, which per se is of known construction, is provided on the casing, this mechanism being adapted to operate electromagnetic slides or the like elements which move into the position taken up by the coin, as in the particular embodiment described above.

I claim:

l. A coin-freed vending apparatus comprising a casing, a tray in said casing for supporting a plurality of articles of the kind referred to, partition means for dividing the tray into a plurality of compartments each for containing articles of one particular character and for locating them ready for removal in a given order, a delivery chute through which the articles may be delivered to the exterior of the casing, and means for removing said articles one at a time from said tray and passing them to the chute; said means comprising an element inaccessible from the exterior of the casing for engaging one of said articles, which element is selectively movable into operative position in relation to any one of said compartments ready for the removal of the leading article therein, and a plurality of members for operating said element from outside the casing, one operating member being provided for each of said compartments and being adapted to be operatively connected by means of a coin with said element after the latter has been moved into its correct operative position in relation to the respective compartment.

2. A coin-freed vending apparatus comprising a casing, a tray in said casing for supporting a plurality of articles of the kind referred to, partition means for dividing the tray into a plurality of compartments each for containing articles of one particular character and for locating them ready for removal in a given order, a delivery chute through which the articles may be delivered to the exterior of the casing, and means for removing said articles one at a time from said tray and passing them to the chute; said means comprising an element inaccessible from the exterior of the casing and on which the leading article in any one of said compartments may be impaled and thereby lifted away from the other articles in such compartment and dropped into the delivery chute, said element being selectively movable into operative position in relation to any one of said compartments, and a plurality of members for operating said element from outside the casing, one operator member being provided for each of said compartments and being adapted to be operatively connected by means of a coin with said element after the latter has been moved into its correct operative position in relation to the respective compartment.

3. A coin-freed vending apparatus comprising a casing, a tray in said casing for supporting a plurality of articles of the kind referred to, partition means for dividing the tray into a plurality of compartments each for containing articles of a particular character and for locating them ready for removal in a given order, means for urging the articles in each compartment towards the point of removal thereof, a delivery chute through which the articles may be delivered to the exterior of the casing, and means for removing said articles one at a time from said tray and passing them to the chute; said article removing means comprising an element inaccessible from the exterior of the casing and on which the leading article in any one of said compartments may be impaled and thereby lifted away from the other articles in such compartment and dropped into the delivery chute, said element being selectively movable into operative position in relation to any one of said compartments, and a plurality of members for operating said element from outside the casing, one operating member being provided for each of said compartments and being adapted to be operatively connected by means of a coin with said element after the latter has been moved into its correct operative position in relation to the respective compartment.

4. A coin-freed vending apparatus comprising a casing, a tray in said casing for supporting a plurality of articles of the kind referred to, partition means for dividing the tray into a plurality of compartments each for containing articles of a particular character and for locating them ready for removal in a given order, means for urging the articles in each compartment towards the point of removal thereof, a delivery chute through Which the articles may be delivered to the exterior of the casing, means for removing said articles one at a time from said tray and passing them to the chute; said article removing means comprising an element inaccessible from the exterior of the casing and on which the leading article at the point of removal in any one of said compartments may be impaled and thereby lifted away from the other articles in such compartment and dropped into the delivery chute, said element being selectively movable into operative position in relation to any one of said compartments, and a plurality of members for operating said element from outside the casing, one operating member being provided operatively connected by means of a coin With said element after the latter has been moved into its correct operative position in relation to the respective compartment; and means for limiting the movement of all but the leading article in a compartment during the removal thereof so that only the leading article can be removed and passed to the delivery chute.

5. A coin-freed vending apparatus comprising a casing, a tray in said casing for supporting a plurality of articles of the kind referred to, partition means for dividing the tray into a plurality of compartments each for containing articles of one particular character and for locating them ready for removal in a given order, a transparent member through which the entire contents of the tray are visible,

means for urging the articles in each compartment to- Wards the point of removal thereof, a delivery chute through which the articles may be delivered to the exterior of the casing, means for removing said articles one at a time from said tray and passing them to the chute; said article removing means comprising an element inaccessible from the exterior of the casing and on which the leading article at the point of removal in any one of said compartments may be impaled and thereby lifted away from the other articles in such compartment and dropped into the delivery chute, said element being selectively movable into operative position in relation to any one of said compartments, and a plurality of members for operating said element from outside the casing, one operating member being provided for each of said compartments and being adapted to be operatively connected by means of a coin with said element after the latter has been moved into its correct operative position in relation to the respective compartment; and means for limiting the movement of all but the leading article in a compartment during the removal thereof so that only the leading article can be removed and passed to the delivery chute.

References Cited in the file of this patent Harris July 7, 1942 

